Melting Insect Sensory Painting

All Thing Kids bloggers are teaming up this month to bring you an exciting series on Spring Sensory Play. Sugar Aunts shares a wonderful introduction post to stay connected with this months series Spring Sensory Playdate Activities. Also, follow along with our All Things Kids Pinterest Board for lots of creative and educational activities for kids! Don’t forget to link up your ideas too at the end of the post!

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Spring is a time for growth, renewal, and new life. Temperatures rise, flowers begin to bud, and the scent of crisp, cool rain fills the air. As winter passes and things being to melt, the insects come out. In celebration of springtime, we’re exploring process-based art todaywith melting insect sensory painting.

We usually use Safari Ltd. TOOB animals for small world play, but we thought we’d try something different with ice painting. We’ve had fun in the past experimenting with pumpkin ice painting and traditional ice painting. With springtime upon us and insects scattering about, it seemed like a great time to explore a messy art project for kids.

Simply, add your insects and washable tempera paint to an ice-cube tray and freeze. It works best if you fill the cube sections half-way, then add your critters. Try to center the critters in the paint cubes as best you can. Little C loved filling the cubes and identifying each color.

Once they’re frozen, use a butter knife to pop them out. Score one side, wiggle it, and they’ll pop right out. Aren’t they so fun?! As they melt, you can discover what spring insects are hiding inside. Cover your work surface with a large piece of butcher paper, then enjoy the creative journey.

The end result wasn’t our primary focus, rather the process and movement itself. Messy play provides a variety of sensory experiences for children too. The colors are so vibrant, especially when they started to melt. What creepy-crawly insect is frozen inside this cube?

He really enjoyed all the colors melting together and swirl patters.

C was creating different patters, mixing colors, and smashing the frozen paint cubes together as they melted.

For us, messy hands are a HUGE deal! Although my son is a sensory seeker, he does not like to get his hands sticky or wet dirty, aside from mud. He is under-sensitive to certain sensations, craving deep pressure and constantly on the move. Many children with Autism have sensory processing difficulties and once you understand their sensory preferences, you’ll be able to understand why he/she engages in certain behaviors or avoids others. I set up these meaningful play experiences to help teach him how to self-regulate and process sensory stimuli, otherwise intentionally avoided.

Grasshopper was his favorite! He was racing him around the paint along side spider.

The colors are so vibrant and pretty! C chose bright spring colors, aside from black, for his open-ended art activity. Once the frozen insect cubes melted, they formed large gobs of gooey paint.

Grasshopper was also my favorite! They’re such beautiful insects. Spring activities are so fun!

This was such a fun and beautiful spring painting activity. C really took a huge step forward today with his willingness to get his hands dirty and happily attend during the process. When you’re done, the insects easily wash clean. Looking for more sensory crafts and activities?

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